Principal's Message for February 9, 2017

The latest message from Principal David Ortiz

Principal’s Message: David L. Ortiz

General

Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP): It is important that you have a voice in our children’s education. Making recommendations via the LCAP link listed below is an effective way to give input on how we prioritize our services for 2017-18. Additionally, you are welcome to attend Board of Education meetings share your perspective. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Before and After School Supervision: For safety reasons, students should not be dropped off before 7:30 AM. Students should also leave campus or be picked up immediately following their final class period. Thank you for your cooperation.

Attendance Procedures: When a student is absent, parents are required to call/send a note to the attendance department in order to validate the reason for your child’s absence. We call this process: Absence Verification. An absence must be verified within three school days. Please call Kristina Carrell at (805) 967­4506 ext. 3102 or email her at kcarrell@sbunified.org to verify your child’s absence. Absences that are not verified within the time allowed will be considered unexcused absences. After our attendance month accounting cycle closes, unexcused absences due to non­-verification cannot be overwritten or changed.

Parent Engagement: There are three key ways to get involved in school: PTSA, English Language Advisory Committee (ELAC), and Staff Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SSEPAC):

English Language Advisory Committee: (ELAC, meeting 2nd Monday, 6:00, library). Notifications will be via ParentSquare and website. The next meeting is Monday, 2-13-17.

Staff Special Education Parent Advisory Committee: (SSEPAC, future meetings will be 3-1-17 and 5-3-17). Contact assistant principal, Jennifer Foster (ext. 3112, jfoster@sbunified.org). The agenda will include program, school and district updates as well as a report on the new proposed reading program.

Current 8th graders: High School Counselors will visit La Colina on the following dates to present scheduling information and assist students with selecting classes online. They will also provide a scheduling worksheet for students to review with parents.

Monday, February 13 - Santa Barbara High School

Tuesday, February 14 - San Marcos High School

Tuesday, February 21 - Dos Pueblos High School

For 2017-2018, all students will be entering their course requests online through the Aeries database system. Most students have already created their Aeries accounts in preparation for entering course requests. Those who have not should log into their gmail account and check for the email with instructions for creating an Aeries Portal account.

Please be sure to check out the course catalog and pathways at courses.sbunified.org, More information, instructions and paperwork will be provided during the counselor visits.

Private Neighborhoods: Remember that no vehicular traffic is permissible on neighboring private roads: Calle Cita, Harrold Ave., Carole Ln., and La Barbara Way. I’ve recently received negative feedback from our neighbors and have promised them that we will do better about respecting their privacy.

Outburst: This past weekend, 28 students from La Colina's show choir, Outburst, traveled to Anaheim and Fullerton for the Musical Theater Competition of America, where schools from all over the nation come to share their performances for adjudication and competition.

This is La Colina's 7th year at the competition, and this year they won first place in both the Advanced Ensemble and Musical Review Categories. In addition, many solo students were awarded trophies including: First place 8th grade solo Daniel Sabraw; Fourth place 8th grade solo Kailey Wipf; First place 7th grade solo with a score of 97.5, Ben Watkins; Second place 7th grade solo, Will Steinberg; Fourth place 7th grade solo Bridge DeVine; Second place 8th grade duet Trevor Hurvitz and Daniel Sabraw; Fourth place 8th grade duet Trevor Hurvitz and Neve Greenwald.

Several students were selected for honors throughout the competition including Ben Watkins, best dancer in a Musical Review; Garett Bailey best singer in a Musical Review; Kidus Efrem, best dancer in Advanced Ensembles, and Daniel Sabraw, triple threat award for best combination of singing, dancing, and acting in the junior high divisions.

Finally, the group won overall Sweepstakes Award for Junior High Schools at the competition. It is the 5th time they have won the Sweepstakes Award.

The group will travel in May with two other show choirs from La Colina, VoiceMale Men's Ensemble and Amore Women's Ensemble, to San Francisco for the Forum Music Festival. The Groups are directed by theater and vocal music teacher, Shannon Saleh.

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The Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUnified) prohibits discrimination, harassment, intimidation and bullying in educational programs, activities, or employment on the basis of actual or perceived ancestry, age, color, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, immigration status, religious beliefs or customs, sexual orientation, parental, pregnancy, family or marital status, military status or association with a person or a group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. SBUnified requires that school personnel take immediate steps to intervene when safe to do so when he or she witnesses an act of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying.

The Governing Board prohibits sexual harassment of district employees and students. The Board also prohibits retaliatory behavior or action against any person who reports, files a complaint or testifies about, or otherwise supports a complainant in alleging sexual harassment.